Kugaidera Temple

… The circumstances of servants were harsh, as symbolized by the fate of Anju and Zushio in Sansho Dayu, but on the other hand, there was also the custom of raising and protecting abandoned children and those without relatives, and the actual situation of servants was not so different from that of commoners, as they had families, even if not permanently, and cultivated the fields given to them by their lords. Servants also often fled to asylums such as the aforementioned Buddhist and Shinto territories, temples called "muensho" (places without relations) and "kokaiji" (places of public domain) during the Warring States period, as well as cities and towns, and changed lords. The lords had the servants write a guarantee (mongon) on their vassals, stating that they could be captured in any situation, and in the Nanboku-cho period, feudal lords made mutual contracts to return fugitive servants to each other (hito-gaeshi), in an effort to control the servants. …

*Some of the terminology used to refer to "Kokaiji Temple" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　もとより下人の境遇は，《山椒大夫》の安寿･厨子王の運命に象徴されるように過酷なものがあったが，一方には捨子や身寄りのないものを養い保護する慣習もあり，下人の実態は，永続的ではないとしても家族をもち，主から給与された田畠を耕作するなど，平民とさほど異ならないところもあったのである。また下人はしばしば，前述した仏神領などや，戦国期に〈無縁所〉〈公界寺〉などといわれた寺院をはじめ，市･町などのアジールに逃亡し，主を変えることもあった。主は曳文に，いかなる場においてもその身を捕らえうるという担保文言（もんごん）を書かせ，南北朝期になると，領主たちは相互に契約を結び，逃亡した下人の相互返還(人返し)を行うなど，下人の掌握につとめている。…

※「公界寺」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報